World Cup: Rohr Keeps Door Open for Martins, Ambrose, Others

Nigeria’s Manager Gernot Rohr has warned that he is yet to settle for any player ahead of the World Cup despite calling up 28 players for this month’s international friendlies with Poland and Serbia.

Torino’s Joel Obi, Lokomotiv Plovdov’s Stephen Eze, Al-Ahly’s Junior Ajayi and Akwa United’s Gabriel Eze are some of the players that Rohr will be tested for the first time following the release of a 28-man team on Wednesday for the games against Poland on March 26 and Serbia three days later in London However, with a few other players making waves in their clubs, the German tactician hinted there could be more new faces in the team in their subsequent games.

The decision, according to the 62-yearold coach, is to make the team competitive in order to bring out the best in his favoured players. “We must keep the door always open for new players because if we say we have already our players there’s no competition and it’s not good for the level of all the team”, the coach remarked.

The likes of Obafemi Martins, Efe Ambrose and Sadiq Umar have been in good form for their clubs but have not been part of the set up since the appointment of Rohr and it’s likely they will be invited for some of the other friendlies. Brown Ideye and Olanrewaju Kayode also switched clubs recently to boost their chances of making the party to Russia. Aside the Serbia and Poland games, Nigeria will battle Congo DR, England and Czech Republic as tune-up for the World Cup where the three-time African champions will face Croatia in their first game on June 16.